Safety

Safety has often been addressed differently between the design industry and healthcare owners. Designers often think of safety in the context of fire and life safety, while healthcare owners and caregivers may think of safety in the context of serious reportable events and hospital-acquired conditions. But poorly designed and operated healthcare environments can also contribute to harm associated with adverse events such as healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), medication errors, injury from patient handling, self-harm (or violence against others), security breaches, and falls. Safety in healthcare is complex and requires a systems approach – understanding the organizational factors, the people, and the often overlooked environment. This toolbox details six risk components in healthcare settings (going beyond fire and life safety), with design considerations for the built environment that may contribute to improved safety for all who use a facility – staff, patients, visitors, and others. To View A Complete List Of Toolbox Contents And Resources, Click Here.

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Insights & Solutions

July 2018∘
Executive Summary ∘
This summary compiles the executive summaries of six Safety Risk Assessment Issue Briefs to provide a high-level overview of the latent conditions of the built environment and their related design categories found in the CHD SRA toolkit.

January 2018∘
Webinar ∘
This webinar introduces the new, easier to use, online interface for The Center’s Safety Risk Assessment (SRA) toolkit, a proactive and systematic approach to designing and renovating healthcare facilities for safety. Originally developed through research and consensus to support the requirements of the FGI Guidelines, The Center's research team will walk you through the why, what, and how of each part of the online SRA toolkit illustrating features with vignettes gathered from the testing process.

February 2018∘
Interview ∘
Inside you will learn about: why behavioral health facilities have very different design requirements than general hospitals; how different areas of a behavioral health unit have different safety needs that influence design choices; and which types of safety measures and products should be incorporated into behavioral health units.